Stoneman Douglas baseball rolls on in Class 7A regional action

PARKLAND, FLORIDA – All season, Marjory Stoneman Douglas has taken care of business, efficiently and resoundingly.

On Saturday night, the Eagles elevated their game even higher.

Matt Ossenfort belted two home runs and drove in six runs, and Stoneman Douglas dominated Taravella, 13-3, in the Class 7A regional semifinal.

Douglas struck for eight runs in the first inning, highlighted by Ossenfort’s grand slam, and ended the night via the 10-run mercy rule in the sixth inning on Ethan Askin’s RBI single.

The latest blowout victory improved the nationally-ranked Eagles to a 26-0 record, and sets them up for a regional final showdown with Columbus, which handled West Broward, 7-2, in its semifinal contest.

Dealing with high expectations doesn’t faze Stoneman Douglas, winners of two straight state and national championships. A bid for a three-peat is the primary focus. Still, Douglas plays with plenty of poise and passion, and the team certainly is enjoying the ride.

“This is a different group,” legendary Douglas coach Todd Fitz-Gerald said. “They are really resilient. Not a whole lot bothers them. We give up [a run], one here, one there. You know, it doesn’t matter. They’re just a really good group of kids. They work hard. They know what they’re doing. They know what they’re chasing. So nothing needs to be said. No motivation needs to be handed out. They know what’s in front of them. If they want it, they have to go get it.”

Before the game, Fitz-Gerald was honored for recently winning his 500th game as a high school coach.

Douglas is now three wins away from hoisting its third straight state title. As for a national championship, that may be a little tricky. IMG Academy is 25-0, and ranked No. 1 nationally. However, because IMG isn’t involved in the playoffs, it’s still to be determined if it will be crowned national champs.

For Douglas to unseat IMG in the national rankings, it will have to run the table, and win state.

Douglas still has to handle its business against a really strong Columbus team. The two schools met on March 24 at Columbus, and the Eagles won, 8-6.

The regional final will be on Tuesday at Douglas.

Douglas made Saturday’s game look easy from the beginning.

In the eight-run first inning, the first nine Douglas batters reached. Alex Rodriguez tripled to lead things off, and Devin Fitz-Gerald lined an RBI single. Rylan Lujo and Christian Rodriguez each walked, loading the bases.

Ossenfort emptied them with his grand slam.

“They left a heater off the middle of the plate,” Ossenfort said. “If I get that, I know I’m not going to miss it.”

Niko Benestad doubled, and Dillon Moquin walked, and Bennett Gary had an RBI ground ball, and reached on an error. Alex Rodriguez added an RBI groundout, and Douglas never looked back.

“I really had a great feeling about today,” Taravella coach Joe Giummule said. “We really prepared well. But it doesn’t really matter how well you prepare, you still have to coach well. You still have to play well, and have a few breaks go your way. None of those things happened today. We lose to an average team tonight, let alone a great team. You lose to an average team, and a great team walks off on you. That’s what happens when you play like this.”

As disappointing as Saturday was for Taravella, it shouldn’t be lost that the Trojans had a strong season, finishing 16-10.

EJ Burns, one of the top players in Broward County, homered in the fifth inning on Saturday.

“He’s had a phenomenal year and the great thing is we’ve got him back next year,” Giummule said. “He’s only a junior. We started five sophomores out there, and three juniors. We’ve got a lot coming back.”

Douglas’ big first-inning put Taravella is too steep a hole to climb back.

“You’re playing your crosstown rival,” Fitz-Gerald said. “Me and Joe are good friends. We talk almost every day. It’s always a good, spirited game, and to come out and make a statement, and have the success we had in the first inning, I thought really took a little bit of the pressure off. I couldn’t be happier with the way the guys prepared. We got after it today, and really had some good approaches at the plate.”

In other action:

Class 7A: Columbus 7, West Broward 2

The Explorers scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back. Lester Martinez had two hits and three RBIs. Julien Gonzalez and Alex Cruz each scored two runs. Jason Vazquez gave up one run on two hits with five strikeouts in six innings.

Class 6A: Doral Academy 12, Varela 1

Daniel Restrepo had a huge night for Doral, belting two home runs and driving in eight. Sebastian Berrios added two hits and two RBIs. Doral moves on to host Dwyer on Tuesday in the regional finale.